1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a vanity case wherein the engagement between its lid and case body can be released easily by an operation of pressing the case body.
2. Description of the Related Art
An example of a vanity case that has the front wall of its case body formed as a portion for pushing operation is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2004-209029 (conventional example 1). The vanity case described therein comprises a case body that contains cosmetic material; a lid openably close against the case body; a first engaging protrusion formed on the inwards facing side of the front wall of the lid; an elastic portion formed at the front wall of the case body below the first engaging protrusion of the lid to have a slit formed along the front wall through the bottom of the case body so as to be elastically deformable horizontally; a second engaging protrusion formed protruding upwards from the elastic portion so as to detachably engage with the first engaging protrusion and to be moved horizontally following the elastic deformation of the elastic portion to disengage from the first engaging protrusion; and a protrusion formed extending downwards from the lid so as to contact the second engaging protrusion being moved so that the lid is raised.
Furthermore, an example of a vanity case wherein the engagement between the case body and the lid is released with push pieces provided on the sides of the case body is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2005-130889 (conventional example 2). The vanity case is described therein wherein the lid is pivotably coupled to the case body at its rear end and has an engaging protrusion at its front underside and wherein an elastic member is provided inside the case body and has an engaging tab at its front end to engage with the engaging protrusion of the lid. The engagement between the engaging tab and the engaging protrusion is released when the elastic member is moved rearwards. A pair of push pieces connected to the elastic member are provided on the sides of the case body so as to be exposed to the outside, and when the push pieces are pushed inwards with fingers, the elastic member is moved rearwards.
In the conventional example 1, because the second engaging protrusion that engages with the first engaging protrusion is formed on the elastic portion of the case body, the second engaging protrusion has to be of the same material as the case body. For example, if the material of the case body is rigid, the second engaging protrusion is easy to break. On the other hand, if the material of the case body is soft, the problem occurs that the engagement with the first engaging protrusion is easy to be released. Moreover, since an open space in communication with the slit is formed between the front wall of the case body and a cosmetic material containing portion of the case body, pieces of the cosmetic material that have flown in a scattered manner from the containing portion are likely to firmly stick to the inside of the slit. Because the width of the slit is small, the inside of the slit is not easy to clean. Thus, the slit and its surroundings become dirty, which causes the problem that the appearance of the vanity case becomes worse.
In the conventional example 2, the push pieces for pushing operation being exposed at the sides of the case body restricts the design of the vanity case and dirt is likely to stick to the spaces between the push pieces and the sides of the case body. Such dirt will appear on the appearance of the vanity case and thus its beauty is likely to be damaged. Furthermore, because the push pieces are incorporated as components into the case body, the size of the push pieces has to be set to be relatively small, which degrades the operability of the push pieces.